The Finished Product

Now that the crafting was done and the final product sat before him in the form of a still hibernating plant made guard he could rest at last. The hibernating serpent Vine had remained in its slumber, continuing its process of evolution. Jien's hope was that the plant would evolve in a way that would solidify its new shape. Unfortunately that wasn't something that he could really control but he had some knowledge regarding growing plants and how they can adapt to shaping techniques. Though this was most commonly heard of with certain types of trees he still held some hope that the combination of three plants would potentially lead it to some sort of balance with its new form.

He had chosen the form of a guard for his blade for a few different reasons. The primary being that he didn't have the skill to craft a sword of his own that would match the quality of the one he was gifted by Emily. Even with the fusion of the plant and a metal sword the end result would end up for weaker. After all this was his first ever time doing such an extensive crafting experiment. In terms of forging, having only really used iron a few times beyond the molding clay. These crude experiments had worked but the end results were poor at best. Still, his father had set them on stands in his study with a proud smile, much to Jien's embarrassment.

The other reason was that a guard for a rapier was something that was not commonly used. The guard of a sword was meant to protect the wielders hands as they used their blade. The rapier being a thing blade would not do well in a direct clash since the best form of defense would often be to parry a blow, knocking it slightly off course. This often meant that rapier guards fell into two categories, those that were very utilitarian, serving the purpose of protecting the hand in the rare instance hit was needed, or those that were seen as decorations. Though the decorative type could suit their purpose in a pinch they often would not do so in the best of ways.

Jien was hedging on the fencing style he was trained on during his choice. The style used swift, fluid footwork in combination with precision and the use of wind spells for variability. It was unlikely that while using this style he would end up in a position of using his blade's guard. The style itself would be more prone to an attempt to use wind spells to reposition for a clean strike at the opponent without so much focus on defense beyond the common parry.

His hope in this process would be to create a blade that while shifting hands could adjust itself on the fly. He had found that using wind spells he could achieve this to a degree but felt that if the blade could lash out on its own if needed it would ease his attempts. Whether this would be the case he wouldn't know until he got to test it for himself. That however, wouldn't be possible until the Serpent Vine guard finished its evolution, a process that could take a few days. For the time being he re-potted the plant, sticking the seed into the soil and then watering it as he would do on any day before changing it's shape. Afterwards he went and washed as he was sweaty and then promptly went to take a nap until dinner to replenish his severely drained mana reserves.

Jien was woken up later the same evening by Runa, who saw that the room was disorderly but at the very least had not blown up. She soon spotted the oddly shaped plant sitting in the pot that one of the Serpent vines had been placed in. seeing its odd shape she figured that Jien had had some level of success and this made her happy. This was his first real attempt at crafting anything and she felt it would be a bummer if he didn't succeed to some degree, even if it were not to be a complete success. She wanted Jien to continue to feel interest in the three professions as they would serve him well in the future.

After she woke up the sleeping Jien he groggily sat up in his bed and gave a long yawn. All the tension had gone from his body as soon as his head had hit the pillow, leading to a strong languidness in his actions. He got to his feet and all but dragged them as he made his way to the dining room to eat with everyone.

As he slumped tiredly in his chair he yawned once again. He wasn't even sure why he was this tired in the first place. Sure he had put himself under some decent mental strain and had drained his mana on and off but while in action he didn't feel that he was doing anything more drastic than his daily training. Only the adults in the room understood that training or practicing was only partially as stressful as actually completing the act that you were training in. They all let Jien eat in piece without bothering him about whether he had succeeded or not. After all there would be time later to hear his answer when he was back at his peak.

After eating Jien washed up and promptly returned to his bed. He knew that he would have to return to his usual training routine in the morning. He was both looking forward to it and dreading it. Training would make the time pass quickly to when the Serpent Vine would wake up and he would be able to test his creation, but Emily and Mark would likely make him pay for asking for the prior day off. They had been all smiles when he had requested it, agreeing without any other comment, but every time their training was interrupted unless it was Lord Losler's doing, would lead to them doubling down on the intensity and difficulty of his training.

As he had predicted the next two days were the truest description of hell. Mark was like a slave driver in making Jien complete a longer running track in a shorter time, this time not only wearing weights but also carrying a backpack full of heavy books from the library. In fact he had to wear the backpack during his entire day of training including sparring with his two mentors. By the end of the second day his routine had gotten back to normal but every movement of his body left a wave of aches through his muscles.

However, despite his pain and exhaustion he was in high spirits this evening. The Vine that had been shaped into a sword guard was showing some signs of movement at last.

Over the last few days the plant itself had exhibited some changes while continuing to hibernate. The green of the vine deepened to a dark almost black shade of green, taking on some of the color characteristics of the Creeping Moss. Veins of what appeared to be light brown bark ran along the many lines of green creating an interesting pattern when blended with the silver of the formations. The brown was likely a bark like exterior formed by the combination with the mandrake. Finally the thorns that had once been broader in shape and green in color seemed to have thinned into fine needles, their shade becoming like that of dark blood.

Jien looked on in excitement as he saw the interlaced vines shift slightly but maintain their general shape. it couldn't seem to escape from its current form, a sign that the sealing formation had worked and that the shaping had forced it to adapt to its new form quite well. He was looking forward to giving it a true test run tomorrow once it had fully woken up, but for now he watered it and then went to bed after soaking in the tub.